[Federal Register: June 19, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 118)]
[Notices]               
[Page 36850]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr19jn03-95]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

[TA-W-50,604]

 
Cessna Aircraft Company, Wichita, KS; Notice of Negative 
Determination Regarding Application for Reconsideration

    By application of May 16, 2003, the International Association of 
Machinists and Aerospace workers, District Lodge 70, requested 
administrative reconsideration of the Department's negative 
determination regarding eligibility to apply for Trade Adjustment 
Assistance (TAA), applicable to workers and former workers of the 
subject firm. The denial notice was signed on April 17, 2003, and 
published in the Federal Register on May 7, 2003 (68 FR 24503).
    Pursuant to 29 CFR 90.18(c) reconsideration may be granted under 
the following circumstances:
    (1) If it appears on the basis of facts not previously considered 
that the determination complained of was erroneous;
    (2) If it appears that the determination complained of was based on 
a mistake in the determination of facts not previously considered; or
    (3) If in the opinion of the Certifying Officer, a mis-
interpretation of facts or of the law justified reconsideration of the 
decision.
    The petition for the workers of Cessna Aircraft Company, Wichita, 
Kansas was denied because the ``contributed importantly'' group 
eligibility requirement of Section 222(3) of the Trade Act of 1974, as 
amended, was not met. The company did not import business jet aircraft 
in the relevant period, nor did they shift production to a foreign 
facility.
    The union alleges that the company shifted production of ``sections 
of the tail and wing assembly of the CJ-3 and Citation Soverence'' to 
Canada, and that ``this work is normally performed by'' subject firm 
workers.
    Contact with the company in regard to this allegation revealed 
that, although the company did outsource these components to Canada, 
they were never produced at the Wichita facility, thus this production 
is irrelevant to the investigation.
    The union also alleged that airplane parts competitive with those 
produced in Wichita are now being produced in ``Poland, Czechoslovakia, 
and Mexico.''
    In response to this allegation, a company official stated that the 
company outsourced an insignificant amount of production to Poland, 
comprising a negligible amount of total annual production at the 
Wichita plant. The official also stated that, although Czechoslovakia 
is currently being considered as a potential outsourcing location, the 
company has not yet imported or used any products produced in that 
country. The official also stated that Mexico is currently not a 
serious consideration in terms of outsourcing production for the 
company.

Conclusion

    After review of the application and investigative findings, I 
conclude that there has been no error or misinterpretation of the law 
or of the facts which would justify reconsideration of the Department 
of Labor's prior decision. Accordingly, the application is denied.

    Signed at Washington, DC this 3rd day of June, 2003
Elliott S. Kushner,
Certifying Officer, Division of Trade Adjustment Assistance.
[FR Doc. 03-15475 Filed 6-18-03; 8:45 am]

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